Marathon News - Rain Should Not Be a Problem for Chip Timing at Boston

Apr-14-2007

Rain Should Not Be a Problem for Chip Timing at Boston
by David Monti
(c) Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved

The wet, cold and windy weather predicted here for Monday's 111th Boston Marathon will be a bigger problem for the athletes than for the man responsible for timing them.

Mike Burns, president of ChampionChipUSA/Burns Computer Services of Ann Arbor, Mich., says that even torrential rain won't be a problem for the ChampionChip transponder timing system.

"Everything works perfectly," said Burns of the system's operation in wet weather. "Everything is battery powered, battery driven. Any potential weak links in the electronics are encased in waterproof coverings. It should be fine."

Burns recounted how how the system recorded a world record in very wet conditions when Ondoro Osoro of Kenya ran 45:37 for ten miles in St.
Petersburg, Fla., in 1997.

"We've run in minus 30° (F) weather, and five inches of water over the mats, and everything still reads," said Burns. "The water should not be a problem. for the technology."

The current weather forecast is for a high temperature of 45°F (7°C) with a 90% chance of rain at 10:00 a.m., accompanied by winds from the ENE at 19 MPH (31 KPH).